SME growth blueprint: delving deeper into the foundations of success.
Do you consider yourself to be an ambitious leader intent on growing your business?
After an initial period of success, many leaders we speak with struggle to grow further and aren’t sure what’s holding them back from reaching their goals.
There’s no quick fix, but our proven formula starts with the three pillars which positively impact every area of your business.
In this post, we explore the vital role these play in laying the foundations for sustainable, intelligent growth.
The benefits of incorporating the three pillars.
So, what can you expect to happen after turning your attention to your growth pillars?
Typically, leaders who embark on this journey go on to experience benefits such as:
Elevated business performance – collective performance invariably lifts when everyone shares a clear understanding of what excellence is and how to model it.
Strong sense of inclusion – it’s no wonder that embedding operational brilliance into your organisation unites your people and makes them feel like an integral part of something bigger.
Excitement – all of this adds up to high levels of excitement! Your team begins to feel more positive and enthusiastic about their work and how it slots into the broader mission.
Openness – a successful team has a culture of transparency, and when you start to communicate with honesty and openness this creates an extremely positive working environment.
Higher motivation – naturally, a shared purpose, strong culture, and mutual understanding evokes higher levels of motivation.
If any – or all – of those are lacking in your current operations, read on to discover how to start evolving your business and reaping the rewards.
What are the three pillars for business growth?
Pillar #1: Vision and values.
Have you heard about the NASA janitor who, when asked by President Kennedy what he did at NASA replied: “Mr President, I’m helping put the first man on the moon”?
This is the perfect example of a clear organisational vision that every employee feels part of – with a shared purpose, everyone can work in alignment with their individual part to play.
Unclear vision and values can lead to:
Low levels of motivation, engagement and trust.
Missed growth opportunities.
High employee churn.
Genuine, authentic values[1] set the scene for your brand personality and character, setting you apart from companies offering similar products or services, so that the right customers see you as the best option for them.
They also influence your attitude and behaviour as a business, so it’s vital each employee understands and embodies them to ensure cohesion and the results you’re aiming for.
Pillar #2: Customer & standards.
The second foundation pillar for sustainable business growth is customer experience and standards.
These two ingredients determine what good looks like in your organisation in relation to how you serve your customers.
If you don’t have a clear definition of how you meet – and exceed – expectations on all fronts, in every customer interaction and process throughout different strands of your business, you could be experiencing a number of negative consequences, like:
Customer confusion, frustration, and dissatisfaction.
High volume of complaints.
Negative word of mouth.
Loss in revenue.
The deeper you delve into these areas to clarify them, the easier it is for your entire team to deliver a cohesive and consistently excellent experience to your customers – an experience that will have them returning and recommending you time and time again.
Pillar #3: Talent & culture.
The third and final growth pillar is talent and culture: essentially, your people and the environment you create for them to work in.
Strong company culture[2] has been linked to better business results, with 69%[3] of organisations that successfully adapted during the pandemic citing their culture as having provided a competitive edge.
It’s often seen as difficult to quantify what good looks like in terms of talent and culture, but years of research and best practice have given us an extremely effective way of creating a personalised benchmark for excellence in this area.
Now is the time to really drill down in these areas – culture is a highly influential factor for the Millennial and Gen Z employees who now make up the majority of the workforce.
The pitfalls of a negative workplace culture include:
High employee turnover and recruitment challenges.
Low motivation and productivity.
Internal conflict.
Negative public perception.
Assessing your current situation around talent and culture will help you determine areas for improvement and start working on a plan of action for the future. And it’s 100% worth doing, as positive culture has a significant impact on employee engagement, retention, and productivity.
Get your free personalised score today and plant the seeds for growth.
I’m Denise, founder of Absolutely Business and passionate advocate of helping business leaders achieve intelligent and sustainable growth.
I created our free Business Growth Scorecard to get you started on the path to building the business you truly want, and can be proud of.
No gimmicks, no catches – just a really useful tool to add to your personal toolkit for success.
Based on the three pillars we’ve explored in this post, the Business Growth Scorecard poses specific questions and provides you with a customised report so you can easily identify gaps in your current structures and processes and start making meaningful changes.
No matter where you’re starting from, taking the first step is a powerful move forward.
Once you begin to establish your pillars and embed them into everyday working life for everyone in your business, you’ll start to see visible changes in morale, engagement, and results - and it will keep growing from there.
This gives you the opportunity to:
Develop your leaders, people, and business so they perform to their potential and remain loyal to you.
Create a positive working environment that attracts and retains the best people.
Deliver exceptional service that your customers shout about and share with their friends and family.
Build a future-proofed business that evolves and stands out in a competitive market.
Take the Scorecard for free today and start your journey towards sustainable success – it’s 100% free, takes just 10 minutes and provides personalised insights and actionable steps to start planting the seeds of your future growth.